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The man who cried 'Van Gogh' proved right after all

When Dirk Hannema declared he had discovered a previously unknown Van Gogh painting in 1975, he became the laughing stock of the art world.

The museum curator was well-known for his tall tales in the Dutch art community and was widely mocked for filling his personal collection with forgeries.

"This discovery is not an attribution but an absolute certainty," he assured his peers to guffaws.

But 25 years after his death, Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum has said the notorious fantasist was right after all.

Yesterday experts said the anonymous work he bought for for 6,500 francs from a Paris dealer was almost certainly by the Dutch master.

New research has concluded the painting Le Blute-fin Windmill which Hannema left to Zwolle's Museum de Fundatie in 1984, was in fact the genuine article and now worth millions....
Read entire article at WaPo